Avoidance

I'd rather be making HH's gingerbread scones than doing my homework... so instead of doing either, I'm blogging! I ordered the second HH cookbook today and am so excited to get it! And to have time to make more food...watch out Thursday, it's my night to cook for Beth and I! (I think I'm going to try HH's chickpea tacos and Mexican cabbage. I've been contemplating the idea of doing a Julie and Julia sort of thing by cooking all of the recipes in Lindsay's cookbooks...but that won't be officially starting until I'm done with grad school, if ever.

Today's stats:

W: 138.6

E: yoga, essentrics Arms/Abs (LOVE how it makes me feel!), 20+ minutes of hiking the Y (can't believe my friend used to RUN it every day...I have a long way to go, that sucker is STEEP!:)

B: green smoothie (peaches, banana, spinach)

L: green smoothie (banana, strawberries, spinach...I actually liked drinking my lunch. I've done it before on Fridays, but today I was able to do more work during lunch while sipping my smoothie than I can when I'm wrangling my usual salad.)

S: banana

D: brown rice and dal

Minimalist Monday

I started writing a lengthy post about how much I love Happy Herbivore (Lindsay Nixon is a genius!), and am emulating her Minimalist Monday posts, but instead, I'll be minimalist in my writing! Today was great. I'm amazed by how much energy I have when I eat to live.

Today's stats:

W: 138.4

E: yoga, essentrics L/B, 30 minutes of CA cardio

B: green smoothie

L: spinach, tomatoes, palta, chili

D: rice, dal (SOOOO yummy!)

S: corn chips (not exactly ETL, I know:( ) and delicious salsa

Choice and Accountability

In my church we have a program for every age group. All the girls ages 12-18 are in what we (very originally) call Young Women. There are several principles that we are taught as YW, and one of those is Choice and Accountability.

I know that I've remarked several times on how amazed I am that people don't notice what I eat or don't. And because I've made the choice to eat right when other people are not (partly because I'm holding myself accountable through this blog) I feel stronger in my determination and more willing to get outside of my comfort zone to make sure that I can stick to my plan. For example, tonight we had a ward indexing party. Val made amazing homemade pizza, and I made pumpkin muffins and cinnamon rolls. I didn't eat any of the sweets, and I was planning to do a green smoothie before everyone arrived and forgo the pizza too, but I didn't have time. So I asked Val to make me a part of the pizza with no meat and no cheese. She asked "No dairy?" and I explained that studies have shown that milk has cancer-causing agents too, so I'm just trying to be careful, given my rampant family history of cancer and diabetes. She was totally supportive and made me a delicious pizza! When we use our agency to do something that we know is right, we're empowered to do it again in the future, and making the right choices becomes easier and easier.

Today's stats:

W: 138.6

E: yoga

B and L: fasting

D: 4 pieces of vegan pizza (dough, sauce, spinach, cucumber, peppers, onions, tomatoes) and a banana

Why/Where are you running?

Today was a back-to-reality day. Surprise! I really don't have time to do everything I want to do! BUT, I've made a commitment to do cardio, essentrics, and ETL every day (only yoga on Sundays) until January 6th, and by golly, I'm going to do it! This afternoon I couldn't decide which of the evils was lesser...run, hike, or do a kickboxing video. I opted for the running, and about a 100 yards in, was loving it. I do that with so many things in my life...dread them, and then they never turn out as bad as I was dreading in my head, and often I end up enjoying them! I can do hard things! And I like to!

Anyway, as I was on the home stretch, a little girl saw me running and asked "Why are you running?" At least that's the question I responded to...I said "For fun!" and kept running. I'm glad that that's what came out first, that that was my natural instinct. Not that I want to lose weight, be healthier, or that I need some sanity in my life, though all of those are true. Running IS fun. Moving my body makes me feel better. And if I'd responded to what could have been her question, "Where are you running?," I hope that I would have said something about running home, because every time I run, I come closer to being at home with myself and my world.

Today's stats:

W: 139 by M and F's scale in the am, 140.8 by Rose's scale this afternoon.

E: yoga, essentrics arms and abs (LOVE it!) and a 13 min, 1.25 mile run

B: delicious green smoothie (soy milk, blueberries, kiwi, orange juice, banana, spinach) Thank you, Mother!

L: banana, spinach, chili, 2 roma tomatoes, 1 avocado (so I know that ETL says you should only eat an oz of palta per day, but who opens a palta and doesn't eat the whole thing?! Not me!)

S: banana and spoonful of peanut butter (again, over ETL fat allowances, but I'm doing better than I was!)

D: green smoothie (spinach, peaches, banana), brown rice with low sodium soy sauce and stir fry veggies.

I'm fixin to try for all I'm worth!

One of our Thanksgiving traditions is that Father reads short stories out loud to us. Yesterday, he read one of my favorites, The Wedding Gift, and one that I'd never heard before called This Boy Cody and His Friends by Leon Wilson. It was about a fiddling contest in Tennessee, and made me want to be better at what I do, and also to take more time for developing my musical talents. One of my favorite lines from the story was said by a man who was 93 years old, had won the contest several years running, and was asked if he was going to win again this year. He said "I'm fixin' to try for all I'm worth!" I need to have that sort of animo for grad school, but I've got it for getting in shape right now, and I really am fixin' to try for all I'm worth. I feel like I know what to do...run, essentrics, ETL, and now I need to just do it. Today went well:

Today's stats:

W: 142 lbs

E: yoga, Classical Stretch (Oceanside workout), 30 minute run/walk.

B: green smoothie (kiwi, banana, strawberry, spinach)

L: mixed veggies and sweetmeat squash

D: lettuce with beans, sweetmeat squash, mixed veggies, beets, corn

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving is a HUGE deal at our house. In that we're all HUGE by the time we're done eating! I didn't eat meat, but I did eat eggs, sugar and flour. And LOTS of it. Again, I'm amazed that people never notice what I eat or don't.

I've resolved to do Eat to Live without deviation for 6 weeks. Tomorrow is the beginning day, and my ending day is January 6th. I've started this before, and made it about 2 weeks before "cheating." But I REALLY want to get down to 130 by the end of the year. I think I can even make it to that by Ben and Erin's wedding on the 21st, if I'm fiel to the program. We'll see what my results are. When I'm committed to ETL, I lose consistently. I can and WILL do this.

Today's stats:

W: 140 (by Mother and Father's scale...144 after eating all day)

E: yoga

B: pumpkin muffins, cheese and crackers

L: potatoes, mixed veggies, squash, pie, tarts, lime pear jello, cheese and crackers, salad, etc.

D: cheese and crackers, jello, pie and whipped cream.

Less is more

I fell asleep watching a movie last night and woke up at 5am. It was beautiful to be awake at that time of day and I had a good scripture study and prayer before I got tired and wanted to sleep again. When I woke up again at 8, I actually had time to do something about this urge I've been having to simplify and get rid of things. I downsized my clothes by a trash bag, taking out things that I haven't worn for months and don't even really like. I'm sure I'll add some clothes as I get out of debt and need some more cute, warm things, but I'm not at a point where I need to own something that I don't love. And less clothes means less clutter physically and mentally. I'm excited to do the same with books (although I will probably always own more books than clothes!), files, boxes, etc. And when I'm done with my room, there are the storage rooms, etc. to do!

I'm feeling like the less is more attitude should extend to my eating habits too. I've been pretty lax about sticking to Eat to Live, eating lots of sugar and flour, and some dairy and eggs, but never any meat. But I'm at a point in my life where I shouldn't have to eat more than one bite of anything I don't love. I can try it, and pass by it if I don't like it. So many times when I think I want something non ETL, I start eating it and then realize that I don't love it, but keep eating it anyway, and then keep eating other things that I love even less. I binged today at India Palace, and even though tomorrow is Thanksgiving, a traditional binge day, I hope I can remember that I don't have room in my life and in my body for things that aren't good for me AND good to me.

Today's stats:

W: 140.4

E: yoga, 10 minute run, 10 minute walk, Classical stretch: Spanish Hallways workout

B: muffin batter, piece of pumpkin pie

L: 3 plates of vegetarian Indian food

D: 2 pumpkin muffins

S: bite of banana